The Advantages of Aged and Expired Domains

As mentioned good domain names are hard to come by, however they are not only difficult to find but it is also difficult to make a new website rank highly in the search engine with absolutely no backlinks, and no reputation. Search engines view age and backlinks as two of the most important factors in SEO. If you want to get a head start on your competition and dominate your niche, then buying a good domain name that is recently expired or aged will definitely help you. Many times recently expired domains still have plenty of backlinks active online that you can take advantage of for an instant boost in traffic. Aged domains also have pre-existing backlinks, and you can capitalize on the success of the previous domain owner by using these links to your advantage.

Getting Instant Traffic with Recently Expired Domain

However it is extremely important that you utilize the existence of these backlinks quickly, as they quickly become broken links if the site’s URLs are not revived and repopulated with content. The key to getting instant traffic form these backlinks is to “keep the ball rolling” by creating the impression a that the site never went anywhere. Many webmasters use tools to test their site and find any broken links, which lead to URLs that no longer exist. When they find these links they remove them form their site, and there goes your precious backlinks that are responsible for you high search engine ranking. As soon as you acquire the recently expired domain, you need to find out where the backlinks for the site are, and then optimize your site around it’s pre-existing link structure. In many cases, if this is done properly you can keep the same amount of traffic that the pre-existing owner enjoyed.

Where to Find Recently Expired or Aged Domains

The best places to find expired or aged domains are domain auction sites where webmasters frequently list their sites for sale when they are not doing well with them or need some quick cash. Many times another man;s trash will be your treasure and you will be able to take advantage of their downfall by assuming a domain that is ripe for the picking. You can place a maximum bid on these sites to establish a price that is suitable for your budget as well. You can also find sites on flippa.com or ebay.com, where many webmasters will even provide proof of income and traffic.

Related posts:

• December 19, 2011 – Top 10 Domain Registrars
• September 10, 2011 – Common Advice in Search Engine Optimization
• August 9, 2011 – SEO 101 : Focusing on Backlinks
• April 22, 2011 – Becoming a Domain Speculator with No Experience
• April 19, 2011 – How to Tell If a Domain Name Is Valuable
• March 14, 2011 – How Dedicated Host Can Enhance Search Engine Optimization Results
• January 24, 2011 – The Advantages of Purchasing Used Domain Names
• December 17, 2010 – Search Engine Optimization with No Investment Needed
• November 5, 2010 – Search Engine Optimization – Link Building the Fast Way
• September 16, 2010 – SEO Web Hosting vs Dedicated Web Hosting

For an internet marketer, a seasoned domain name is worth its weight in gold. It comes complete with all the things an internet marketer would pay money for and spend time (often lots of it) to attain. Let’s take a look at a few of the things that may come as part of the package when you happen upon a great expired domain:

Traffic – Even though a domain is expired, it will still show up in the search engine results. The older that domain name is, the more search results it is likely to be associated with. An internet marketer could potentially save thousands of marketing dollars by simply buying an expired domain name for a product that falls in the same or a similar category as the one they currently offer. Traffic from website text, blogs and videos for the expired domain will now be directed to you, the new domain name owner.

Reputation – If you do your homework, you could benefit from the reputation for quality and service that was built by a now-defunct business. A good example of this is in the mortgage and real estate industry. Many brokers who had great domain names are no longer in business after being around for decades. People are still being directed to their expired domains as a result of seasoned search results. The important point here is to remember to do your homework. Every broker in the industry did not have a good reputation.

Page Rank and Links – If you buy an expired domain while it’s hot and fresh, you’ll reap the benefit of the Google and Alexa page rank that it carried. You will also enjoy the back links from other sites that were once associated with the now-expired domain name.

Increased Profitability or a New Revenue Stream – An expired domain can be profitable in more ways than one. There is the obvious increase in sales that come from the traffic associated with an expired domain. But for some, selling and trading (or flipping) expired domains has become a new business venture.  There are lots of websites that sell internet marketing guides on how to market expired domains easily and quickly.

Content ideas – If you were at a loss for content ideas, you may be able to work with the previous domain name owner to borrow some of their content ideas. One millionaire internet marketer used this strategy very effectively. He found a domain name that he wanted and bought both it and the sales copy from the owner. He paid a few thousand dollars for it but made millions. That domain name was definitely worth its weight in gold.

These are just a few of the considerations that are calculated into the pricing of an expired domain name. As the percentage of the world’s population that buys via the internet continues to rise, we are likely to continue to see expired domain name prices rise too.

Related posts:

• December 19, 2011 – Top 10 Domain Registrars
• September 30, 2011 – Picking up Expired Domains – Not Always Fun, but There’s a Way
• September 27, 2011 – Common Web Hosting Terms And What They Mean
• September 16, 2011 – Avoiding Domain Name Scams and Dead Ends
• September 5, 2011 – Premium Domain Names: What Are They?
• September 2, 2011 – Domain Names – Do You Still Need One
• September 1, 2011 – Budget Web Hosting: Is It Worth the Buck?
• August 30, 2011 – Additional Branding Woes in the Domain Name Game
• July 18, 2011 – Domain Name Expansion Expected to Create Major Problems
• June 10, 2011 – How to Prevent Domain Hijacking